Sunday, March 23, 2008

Can I just say how much I love family history? It's amazing and it definitely instills something in you: a love for people that you don't even know. We are all so inextricable, but yet so disconnected, especially with our forebearers.

My excitement came long ago when the semester just started and when I started to take a Family History class. Diving more in to my past created a "monster," if you will. I voraciously search almost every chance I'm on the internet (if I'm not doing facebook or checking email). There is something inside each of us that wants to know who we are and where we come from. This is where it starts.

I began a more intense search for different ancestors around the time that I was working on a video podcast for my visual media class. My inspiration for the podcast came from looking for information on my great, great grandmother, Challie Livingston. I was blessed enough to find a good amount of information on her while working on the podcast. Coincidence? I think not.

I found U.S. Census records, childrens' names and ages, parents and a whole long line of people related to her. It was like digging in your chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and finding a nugget of cookie dough. It tasted that good.

I finished my podcast project, but I have continued to look for information. Currently I'm stuck with Challie's husband's information. I have his dad's name and his mom's name, but the rest of his siblings are a little tricky. It also looks like his dad may have had a previous marriage, but I can't be 100 percent sure.

By far, my most exciting news is what I did today: I prepared names to take to the temple. For those who don't know, as Latter-day Saints, we believe that people have chances after death to accept Jesus Christ, if they didn't have the chance here during their life. Since we don't know for sure if that happens, we are baptized in behalf of them (proxy) for those who do accept the Savior's teachings on Baptism by immersion, repentance, faith, and others. To us, it's very special, especially for our progenitors.

On another note, Spring is here! Well, almost. It's still frigid in the mornings with frost on the car and your breath crystallizing in the air. But, the sun is coming up earlier and staying out longer. This is enough to satisfy me, well, except for the temperature. Shoots are seen along the walkways. I'm sure the birds will be singing soon, if not already.

This does make one think if winter will be missed at all. I can think of a few things: leaving leftovers outside when the fridge is full, ice-capades on the way to class, beautiful snow fall, piles of snow ten feet high, missing the chances to snowboard, ski, or sled. I think that pretty much covers it. At least for those of us with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) can rest easy and stop being depressed.